Remote controlled robot system that provides medical images

ABSTRACT

A remote controlled robot system that includes a mobile robot and a remote control station. The mobile robot is controlled by the remote control station and includes a robot monitor, and a robot camera that captures a robot image. The system also includes a medical image device that can be coupled to the robot. The remote control station includes a camera that captures a remote station image, and a monitor that displays the robot image captured by the robot camera in a robot view field, displays the remote station image in a station view field. The robot transmits the robot and medical images to the remote control station such that a larger portion of a network bandwidth is allocated for the medical image than the robot image.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.11/542,605, filed on Oct. 2, 2006, pending, which is as acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/455,161, filed onJun. 15, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The subject matter disclosed generally relates to the field of mobiletwo-way teleconferencing.

2. Background Information

There has been marketed a mobile robot introduced by InTouchTechnologies, Inc., the assignee of this application, under thetrademarks COMPANION, RP-6 and RP-7. The InTouch robot is controlled bya user at a remote station. The remote station may be a personalcomputer with a joystick that allows the user to remotely control themovement of the robot. Both the robot and remote station have cameras,monitors, speakers and microphones to allow for two-way video/audiocommunication. The robot camera provides video images to a screen at theremote station so that the user can view the robot's surroundings andmove the robot accordingly.

The InTouch robot can be used by medical personnel to monitor andinteract with a patient. For example, a doctor can move the robot into apatient's room and utilize the two-way videoconferencing capabilities ofthe system to examine the patient. Examination of the patient is limitedto visual inspection and audio feedback. It would be desirable if thesystem would also allow other devices to be used to examine and interactwith a patient.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A remote controlled robot system that includes a mobile robot and aremote control station. The mobile robot is controlled by the remotecontrol station and includes a robot monitor, and a robot camera thatcaptures a robot image. The system also includes a medical image devicethat can be coupled to the robot. The remote control station includes acamera that captures a remote station image, and a monitor that displaysthe robot image captured by the robot camera in a robot view field,displays the remote station image in a station view field. The robottransmits the robot and medical images to the remote control stationsuch that a larger portion of a network bandwidth is allocated for themedical image than the robot image.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a robotic system;

FIG. 2 is a schematic of an electrical system of a robot;

FIG. 3 is a further schematic of the electrical system of the robot;

FIG. 4 is a graphical user interface of a remote station;

FIG. 5 is the graphical user interface showing a medical image in anauxiliary view field.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed is a remote controlled robot system that includes a mobilerobot and a remote control station. The mobile robot is controlled bythe remote control station and includes a robot monitor, and a robotcamera that captures a robot image. The system also includes a medicalimage device that can be coupled to the robot. The remote controlstation includes a camera that captures a remote station image, and amonitor that displays the robot image captured by the robot camera in arobot view field, displays the remote station image in a station viewfield. The robot transmits the robot and medical images to the remotecontrol station such that a larger portion of a network bandwidth isallocated for the medical image than the robot image. A medicalpersonnel at the remote control station can interact with anotherpersonnel at the robot site to move the medical image device to vary thecaptured images. The system allows the remote operator to conduct avideo conference with someone at the robot site while viewing medicalimages in real time.

Referring to the drawings more particularly by reference numbers, FIG. 1shows a robotic system 10 that can be used to conduct a remote visit.The robotic system 10 includes a robot 12, a base station 14 and aremote control station 16. The remote control station 16 may be coupledto the base station 14 through a network 18. By way of example, thenetwork 18 may be either a packet switched network such as the Internet,or a circuit switched network such has a Public Switched TelephoneNetwork (PSTN) or other broadband system. The base station 14 may becoupled to the network 18 by a modem 20 or other broadband networkinterface device. By way of example, the base station 14 may be awireless router. Alternatively, the robot 12 may have a directconnection to the network thru for example a satellite.

The remote control station 16 may include a computer 22 that has amonitor 24, a camera 26, a microphone 28 and a speaker 30. The computer22 may also contain an input device 32 such as a joystick and/or a mouseand a keyboard 34. The control station 16 is typically located in aplace that is remote from the robot 12. Although only one remote controlstation 16 is shown, the system 10 may include a plurality of remotestations. In general any number of robots 12 may be controlled by anynumber of remote stations 16 or other robots 12. For example, one remotestation 16 may be coupled to a plurality of robots 12, or one robot 12may be coupled to a plurality of remote stations 16, or a plurality ofrobots 12.

Each robot 12 includes a movement platform 36 that is attached to arobot housing 38. Also attached to the robot housing 36 is a pair ofcameras 40 and 42, a monitor 44, a microphone(s) 46 and a speaker(s) 48.The microphone 46 and speaker 30 may create a stereophonic sound. Therobot 12 may also have an antenna 50 that is wirelessly coupled to anantenna 52 of the base station 14. The robot monitor 44 and cameras 40and 82 move together in two degrees of freedom including pan and tiltdirections. The system 10 allows a user at the remote control station 16to move the robot 12 through operation of the input device 32. The robotcameras 40 and 42 are coupled to the remote monitor 24 so that a user atthe remote station 16 can view a patient. Likewise, the robot monitor 44is coupled to the remote camera 26 so that the patient can view theuser. The microphones 28 and 46, and speakers 30 and 48, allow foraudible communication between the patient and the user.

Camera 40 may provide a wide angle view. Conversely, camera 42 maycontain a zoom lens to provide a narrow angle view. Camera 42 cancapture a zoom image that is transmitted to the remote control station.Camera 40 can capture a non-zoom image that can be transmitted to theremote control station. Although two cameras are shown and described, itis to be understood that the robot may contain only one camera that hasthe capability to provide a zoom image and a non-zoom image.

The remote station computer 22 may operate Microsoft OS software andWINDOWS XP or other operating systems such as LINUX. The remote computer22 may also operate a video driver, a camera driver, an audio driver anda joystick driver. The video images may be transmitted and received withcompression software such as MPEG CODEC.

The robot 12 may include an auxiliary video port 70. The auxiliary videoport 70 may include USB, VGA, Y-video/audio electrical connectors andassociated electronic circuitry. A plurality of video devices 72 can beconnected to one or more of the ports 70. By way of example, the videodevices 72 may include an ultrasound device, an otoscope, aechocardiogram, a dermatology camera, a ceiling camera and/or a videoplayback machine such as a VCR or DVD player. The video devices 72capture video that is transmitted to the remote station 16 through themobile robot 12. By way of example, the ultrasound device may captureimages of a patient that are then transmitted to the remote controlstation 16 and displayed by the station monitor 24. The video devices 72can be coupled to the robot with either a wire or through a wirelessconnection. For purposes of this patent an auxiliary port will describeboth wireless and wired connections between a video device and therobot.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an embodiment of a robot 12. Each robot 12 mayinclude a high level control system 150 and a low level control system152. The high level control system 150 may include a processor 154 thatis connected to a bus 156. The auxiliary video port 70 is coupled to therobot cameras 40 and 42 and the external video devices 72. The port 70may include a frame grabber that has multiple composite video inputsthat allow the robot to capture video from the cameras 40 and 42 and thevideo devices 72. The port 70 provides video from one of the videodevices, or cameras 40 or 42, based on input from the remote controlstation 16. For example, the port 70 may feed video from camera 40 andthen switch the feed to one of the video devices 72.

The monitor 44 is coupled to the bus 156 by a serial output port 160 anda VGA driver 162. The monitor 44 may include a touchscreen function thatallows the patient to enter input by touching the monitor screen.

The speaker 48 is coupled to the bus 156 by a digital to analogconverter 164. The microphone 46 is coupled to the bus 156 by an analogto digital converter 166. The high level controller 150 may also containrandom access memory (RAM) device 168, a non-volatile RAM device 170 anda mass storage device 172 that are all coupled to the bus 156. The massstorage device 172 may contain medical files of the patient that can beaccessed by the user at the remote control station 16. For example, themass storage device 172 may contain a picture of the patient. The user,particularly a health care provider, can recall the old picture and makea side by side comparison on the monitor 24 with a present video imageof the patient provided by the camera 40. The robot antennae 50 may becoupled to a wireless transceiver 174. By way of example, thetransceiver 174 may transmit and receive information in accordance withIEEE 802.11b.

The controller 154 may operate with a LINUX OS operating system. Thecontroller 154 may also operate MS WINDOWS along with video, camera andaudio drivers for communication with the remote control station 16.Video information may be transceived using MPEG CODEC compressiontechniques. The software may allow the user to send e-mail to thepatient and vice versa, or allow the patient to access the Internet. Ingeneral the high level controller 150 operates to control communicationbetween the robot 12 and the remote control station 16.

The remote control station 16 may include a computer that is similar tothe high level controller 150. The computer would have a processor,memory, I/O, software, firmware, etc. for generating, transmitting,receiving and processing information.

The high level controller 150 may be linked to the low level controller152 by serial ports 176 and 178. The low level controller 152 includes aprocessor 180 that is coupled to a RAM device 182 and non-volatile RAMdevice 184 by a bus 186. Each robot 12 contains a plurality of motors188 and motor encoders 190. The motors 188 can actuate the movementplatform and move other parts of the robot such as the monitor andcamera. The encoders 190 provide feedback information regarding theoutput of the motors 188. The motors 188 can be coupled to the bus 186by a digital to analog converter 192 and a driver amplifier 194. Theencoders 190 can be coupled to the bus 186 by a decoder 196. Each robot12 also has a number of proximity sensors 198 (see also FIG. 1). Theposition sensors 198 can be coupled to the bus 186 by a signalconditioning circuit 200 and an analog to digital converter 202.

The low level controller 152 runs software routines that mechanicallyactuate the robot 12. For example, the low level controller 152 providesinstructions to actuate the movement platform to move the robot 12. Thelow level controller 152 may receive movement instructions from the highlevel controller 150. The movement instructions may be received asmovement commands from the remote control station or another robot.Although two controllers are shown, it is to be understood that eachrobot 12 may have one controller, or more than two controllers,controlling the high and low level functions.

The various electrical devices of each robot 12 may be powered by abattery(ies) 204. The battery 204 may be recharged by a batteryrecharger station 206 (see also FIG. 1). The low level controller 152may include a battery control circuit 208 that senses the power level ofthe battery 204. The low level controller 152 can sense when the powerfalls below a threshold and then send a message to the high levelcontroller 150.

The system 10 may be the same or similar to a robotic system provided bythe assignee InTouch-Health, Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif. under thename RP-6 or RP-7. The system may also be the same or similar to thesystem disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,925,357 issued to Wang et al. onAug. 2, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIG. 4 shows a display user interface (“DUI”) 220 that can be displayedat the remote station 16. The DUI 220 may include a robot view field 222that displays a video image provided by one of the cameras 40 or 42, orone of the video devices 72 at the robot location. The DUI 220 mayinclude a station view field 224 that displays a video image provided bythe camera of the remote station 16. The DUI 220 may be part of anapplication program stored and operated by the computer 22 of the remotestation 16.

The display user interface 220 may include a Aux Video graphical tab 226that display a button 228. The button 228 can be selected by a user todisplay video provided by one of the video devices 72 in the robot viewfield 222. The interface 220 may have additional graphical icons 230that allow the user to adjust different parameters of the system such ascamera brightness, audio volume, capturing a still picture, etc.

The user can highlight a portion of a non-zoom image to display a zoomimage that corresponds to the highlighted area. Additionally, the usercan circle, annotate, etc. portions of video with a telestrator functionof the system 10.

The system 10 can be used in a process wherein a medical personnel suchas a doctor move the robot 12 adjacent to a patient that is beingassisted by another medical personnel such as a nurse. The nurse canplug the ultrasound device into the auxiliary video port of the robot.Plugging the ultrasound device into the robot may cause ultrasoundimages to be transmitted and displayed within the robot view field 222.Alternatively, the doctor can select graphical button 228 which causesthe ultrasound image to be displayed in an auxiliary view field 240shown in FIG. 5. The auxiliary field 240 may have a graphical button 242that can be selected to switch the ultrasound image into the robot viewfield 222 and the images from the robot camera into field 240. When bothultrasound and video images from the robot camera are transmitted to theremote station, the robot may enter a mode wherein the ultrasound imagesare transmitted at a larger frame size, higher frame rate and highervideo compression and the robot camera images are transmitted at asmaller frame size, lower frame rate and lower compression. This modeallocates a higher portion of network bandwidth to the medical images.This mode can be selected through a graphical button (not shown)displayed on the remote control station monitor. The robot camera imagesand the medical images may also be encrypted. For example, the imagesmay be encrypted with a 128 bit AES encryption with a symmetric key thatis exchanged at the start of a session.

During a session where an ultrasound device is coupled to the robot atechnician may be located at the robot site in the vicinity of apatient. The technician may move the ultrasound device to differentpositions on the patient. The images are transmitted to the controlstation and displayed by the monitor for viewing by a doctor. The doctorand technician can discuss the ultrasound images through the controlstation and robot. The doctor may also provide instructions on where toplace the ultrasound device. For example, the doctor can instruct thetechnician to move the ultrasound device to different locations on apatient. The system allows the doctor to conduct a remote videoconference while viewing ultrasound images in real time.

The robot 12 may be placed in a home or a facility where one or morepatients are to be monitored and/or assisted. The facility may be ahospital or a residential care facility. By way of example, the robot 12may be placed in a home where a health care provider may monitor and/orassist the patient. Likewise, a friend or family member may communicatewith the patient. The cameras and monitors at both the robot and remotecontrol stations allow for teleconferencing between the patient and theperson at the remote station(s).

The robot 12 can be maneuvered through the home or a facility bymanipulating the input device 32 at a remote station 16. The robot 10may be controlled by a number of different users. To accommodate forthis the robot may have an arbitration system. The arbitration systemmay be integrated into the operating system of the robot 12. Forexample, the arbitration technique may be embedded into the operatingsystem of the high-level controller 150.

By way of example, the users may be divided into classes that includethe robot itself, a local user, a caregiver, a doctor, a family member,or a service provider. The robot 12 may override input commands thatconflict with robot operation. For example, if the robot runs into awall, the system may ignore all additional commands to continue in thedirection of the wall. A local user is a person who is physicallypresent with the robot. The robot could have an input device that allowslocal operation. For example, the robot may incorporate a voicerecognition system that receives and interprets audible commands.

A caregiver is someone who remotely monitors the patient. A doctor is amedical professional who can remotely control the robot and also accessmedical files contained in the robot memory. The family and serviceusers remotely access the robot. The service user may service the systemsuch as by upgrading software, or setting operational parameters.

The robot 12 may operate in one of two different modes; an exclusivemode, or a sharing mode. In the exclusive mode only one user has accesscontrol of the robot. The exclusive mode may have a priority assigned toeach type of user. By way of example, the priority may be in order oflocal, doctor, caregiver, family and then service user. In the sharingmode two or more users may share access with the robot. For example, acaregiver may have access to the robot, the caregiver may then enter thesharing mode to allow a doctor to also access the robot. Both thecaregiver and the doctor can conduct a simultaneous tele-conference withthe patient.

The arbitration scheme may have one of four mechanisms; notification,timeouts, queue and call back. The notification mechanism may informeither a present user or a requesting user that another user has, orwants, access to the robot. The timeout mechanism gives certain types ofusers a prescribed amount of time to finish access to the robot. Thequeue mechanism is an orderly waiting list for access to the robot. Thecall back mechanism informs a user that the robot can be accessed. Byway of example, a family user may receive an e-mail message that therobot is free for usage. Tables I and II, show how the mechanismsresolve access request from the various users.

TABLE I Access Medical Command Software/Debug Set User Control RecordOverride Access Priority Robot No No Yes (1) No No Local No No Yes (2)No No Caregiver Yes Yes Yes (3) No No Doctor No Yes No No No Family NoNo No No No Service Yes No Yes Yes Yes

TABLE II Requesting User Local Caregiver Doctor Family Service CurrentLocal Not Allowed Warn current user of Warn current user of Warn currentuser of Warn current user of User pending user pending user pending userpending user Notify requesting Notify requesting user Notify requestinguser Notify requesting user that system is in that system is in use thatsystem is in use user that system is in use Set timeout = 5 m Settimeout = 5 m use Set timeout Call back No timeout Call back CaregiverWarn current user Not Allowed Warn current user of Warn current user ofWarn current user of of pending user. pending user pending user pendinguser Notify requesting Notify requesting user Notify requesting userNotify requesting user that system is that system is in use that systemis in use user that system is in in use. Set timeout = 5 m Set timeout =5 m use Release control Queue or callback No timeout Callback DoctorWarn current user Warn current user of Warn current user of Notifyrequesting user Warn current user of of pending user pending userpending user that system is in use pending user Notify requesting Notifyrequesting Notify requesting user No timeout Notify requesting user thatsystem is user that system is in that system is in use Queue or callbackuser that system is in in use use No timeout use Release control Settimeout = 5 m Callback No timeout Callback Family Warn current userNotify requesting Warn current user of Warn current user of Warn currentuser of of pending user user that system is in pending user pending userpending user Notify requesting use Notify requesting user Notifyrequesting user Notify requesting user that system is No timeout thatsystem is in use that system is in use user that system is in in use Putin queue or Set timeout = 1 m Set timeout = 5 m use Release Controlcallback Queue or callback No timeout Callback Service Warn current userNotify requesting Warn current user of Warn current user of Not Allowedof pending user user that system is in request pending user Notifyrequesting use Notify requesting user Notify requesting user user thatsystem is No timeout that system is in use that system is in use in useCallback No timeout No timeout No timeout Callback Queue or callback

The information transmitted between the station 16 and the robot 12 maybe encrypted. Additionally, the user may have to enter a password toenter the system 10. A selected robot is then given an electronic key bythe station 16. The robot 12 validates the key and returns another keyto the station 16. The keys are used to encrypt information transmittedin the session.

The robot 12 and remote station 16 transmit commands through thebroadband network 18. The commands can be generated by the user in avariety of ways. For example, commands to move the robot may begenerated by moving the joystick 32 (see FIG. 1). The commands arepreferably assembled into packets in accordance with TCP/IP protocol.Table III provides a list of control commands that are generated at theremote station and transmitted to the robot through the network.

TABLE III Control Commands Command Example Description drive drive 10.00.0 5.0 The drive command directs the robot to move at the specifiedvelocity (in cm/sec) in the (x, y) plane, and turn its facing at thespecified rate (degrees/sec). goodbye goodbye The goodbye commandterminates a user session and relinquishes control of the robotgotoHomePosition gotoHomePosition 1 The gotoHomePosition command movesthe head to a fixed “home” position (pan and tilt), and restores zoom todefault value. The index value can be 0, 1, or 2. The exact pan/tiltvalues for each index are specified in robot configuration files. headhead vel pan 5.0 tilt The head command controls the head motion. 10.0 Itcan send commands in two modes, identified by keyword: either positional(“pos”) or velocity (“vol”). In velocity mode, the pan and tilt valuesare desired velocities of the head on the pan and tilt axes, indegree/sec. A single command can include just the pan section, or justthe tilt section, or both. keepalive keepalive The keepalive commandcauses no action, but keeps the communication (socket) link open so thata session can continue. In scripts, it can be used to introduce delaytime into the action. odometry odometry 5 The odometry command enablesthe flow of odometry messages from the robot. The argument is the numberof times odometry is to be reported each second. A value of 0 turnsodometry off. reboot reboot The reboot command causes the robot computerto reboot immediately. The ongoing session is immediately broken off.restoreHeadPosition restoreHeadPosition The restoreHeadPositionfunctions like the gotoHomePosition command, but it homes the head to aposition previously saved with gotoHomePosition. saveHeadPositionsaveHeadPosition The saveHeadPosition command causes the robot to savethe current head position (pan and tilt) in a scratch location intemporary storage so that this position can be restored. Subsequentcalls to “restoreHeadPosition” will restore this saved position. Eachcall to saveHeadPosition overwrites any previously saved position.setCameraFocus setCameraFocus 100.0 The setCameraFocus command controlsfocus for the camera on the robot side. The value sent is passed “raw”to the video application running on the robot, which interprets itaccording to its own specification. setCameraZoom setCameraZoom 100.0The setCameraZoom command controls zoom for the camera on the robotside. The value sent is passed “raw” to the video application running onthe robot, which interprets it according to its own specification.shutdown Shutdown The shutdown command shuts down the robot and powersdown its computer. stop stop The stop command directs the robot to stopmoving immediately. It is assumed this will be as sudden a stop as themechanism can safely accommodate. timing Timing 3245629 500 The timingmessage is used to estimate message latency. It holds the UCT value(seconds + milliseconds) of the time the message was sent, as recordedon the sending machine. To do a valid test, you must compare results ineach direction (i.e., sending from machine A to machine B, then frommachine B to machine A) in order to account for differences in theclocks between the two machines. The robot records data internally toestimate average and maximum latency over the course of a session, whichit prints to log files. userTask userTask “Jane Doe” The userTaskcommand notifies the robot of “Remote Visit” The current user and task.It typically is sent once at the start of the session, although it canbe sent during a session if the user and/or task change. The robot usesthis information for record-keeping.

Table IV provides a list of reporting commands that are generated by therobot and transmitted to the remote station through the network.

TABLE IV Reporting Commands Command Example Description abnormalExitabnormalExit This message informs the user that the robot software hascrashed or otherwise exited abnormally. Te robot software catches top-level exceptions and generates this message if any such exceptionsoccur. bodyType bodyType 3 The bodyType message informs the stationwhich type body (using the numbering of the mechanical team) the currentrobot has. This allows the robot to be drawn correctly in the stationuser interface, and allows for any other necessary body-specificadjustments. driveEnabled driveEnabled true This message is sent at thestart of a session to indicate whether the drive system is operational.emergencyShutdown emergencyShutdown This message informs the stationthat the robot software has detected a possible “runaway” condition (anfailure causing the robot to move out of control) and is shutting theentire system down to prevent hazardous motion. odometry odometry 10 20340 The odometry command reports the current (x, y) position (cm) andbody orientation (degrees) of the robot, in the original coordinatespace of the robot at the start of the session. sensorGroup group_dataSensors on the robot are arranged into groups, each group of a singletype (bumps, range sensors, charge meter, etc.) The sensorGroup messageis sent once per group at the start of each session. It contains thenumber, type, locations, and any other relevant data for the sensors inthat group. The station assumes nothing about the equipment carried onthe robot; everything it knows about the sensors comes from thesensorGroup messages. sensorState groupName state data The sensorStatecommand reports the current state values for a specified group ofsensor. The syntax and interpretation for the state data is specific toeach group. This message is sent once for each group at each sensorevaluation (normally several times per second). systemError systemErrorThis message informs the station user of a driveController failure inone of the robot's subsystems. The error_type argument indicates whichsubsystem failed, including driveController, sensorController, headHome.systemInfo systemInfo wireless 45 This message allows regular reportingof information that falls outside the sensor system such as wirelesssignal strength. text text “This is some The text string sends a textstring from the text” robot to the station, where the string isdisplayed to the user. This message is used mainly for debugging.version version 1.6 This message identifies the software versioncurrently running on the robot. It is sent once at the start of thesession to allow the station to do any necessary backward compatibilityadjustments.

The processor 154 of the robot high level controller 150 may operate aprogram that determines whether the robot 12 has received a robotcontrol command within a time interval. For example, if the robot 12does not receive a control command within 2 seconds then the processor154 provides instructions to the low level controller 150 to stop therobot 12. Although a software embodiment is described, it is to beunderstood that the control command monitoring feature could beimplemented with hardware, or a combination of hardware and software.The hardware may include a timer that is reset each time a controlcommand is received and generates, or terminates, a command or signal,to stop the robot.

The remote station computer 22 may monitor the receipt of video imagesprovided by the robot camera. The computer 22 may generate and transmita STOP command to the robot if the remote station does not receive ortransmit an updated video image within a time interval. The STOP commandcauses the robot to stop. By way of example, the computer 22 maygenerate a STOP command if the remote control station does not receive anew video image within 2 seconds. Although a software embodiment isdescribed, it is to be understood that the video image monitoringfeature could be implemented with hardware, or a combination of hardwareand software. The hardware may include a timer that is reset each time anew video image is received and generates, or terminates, a command orsignal, to generate the robot STOP command.

While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in theaccompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments aremerely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, andthat this invention not be limited to the specific constructions andarrangements shown and described, since various other modifications mayoccur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.

1. A remote controlled robot system, comprising: a mobile robot with arobot monitor, and a robot camera that captures a robot image, saidmobile robot having an auxiliary video port; a medical image device thatis coupled to said auxiliary video port and can capture a medical imageof a patient; and, a remote control station that transmits commands tocontrol said mobile robot, said remote control station includes a camerathat captures a remote station image and a monitor that displays therobot image captured by said robot camera in a robot view field,displays said remote station image in a station view field, said remotecontrol station includes a graphical user interface with an auxiliaryvideo graphical input that can be selected by a user to display saidmedical image in said robot view field.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein said medical image device is an ultrasound device.
 3. The systemof claim 1, wherein said medical image device is an otoscope.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein said medical image device is anechocardiogram.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein said remote controlstation displays said medical image in an auxiliary view field.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising a broadband network coupled tosaid mobile robot and said remote control station.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said robot camera and said robot monitor aremechanically coupled to always move together.
 8. The system of claim 1,wherein a larger portion of a network bandwidth is allocated for themedical image than the robot image.
 9. A remote controlled robot system,comprising: a mobile robot with a robot monitor, and a robot camera thatcaptures a robot image, said mobile robot having an auxiliary videoport; a medical image device that is coupled to said auxiliary videoport and can capture a medical image of a patient; and, a remote controlstation that transmits commands to control said mobile robot, saidremote control station includes a camera that captures a remote stationimage and a monitor that displays the robot image captured by said robotcamera in a robot view field, displays said remote station image in astation view field, said remote control station includes a graphicaluser interface with an auxiliary video graphical input that can beselected by a user to display said medical image in said robot viewfield, said robot transmits said robot and medical images to said remotecontrol station such that a larger portion of a network bandwidth isallocated for said medical image than said robot image.
 10. The systemof claim 9, wherein said medical image device is an ultrasound device.11. The system of claim 9, wherein said medical image device is anotoscope.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein said medical image deviceis an echocardiogram.
 13. The system of claim 9, further comprising abroadband network coupled to said mobile robot and said remote controlstation.
 13. The system of claim 9, wherein said robot camera and saidrobot monitor are mechanically coupled to always move together.
 14. Amethod for reviewing images of a patient, comprising: moving a robotthat has a monitor and a camera adjacent to a patient with a remotecontrol station that includes a camera and a monitor; capturing a robotimage with the robot camera; transmitting the robot image to the remotecontrol station; displaying the robot image on the remote controlstation monitor; moving a medical image device on a patient by atechnician; capturing a medical image of the patient with the medicalimage device, the captured medical image being provided to the robot;transmitting the medical image from the robot to the remote controlstation; and, displaying the medical image on the remote control stationmonitor.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the medical image devicecaptures ultrasound images.
 16. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising selecting a graphical input of a graphical user interfacedisplayed by the remote control station monitor to display the medicalimage.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the medical image istransmitted at a higher frame rate than the robot image.